


In Dreams I Walk With You

by yellow_wallpaper



Category: Twin Peaks
Genre: Alternate Ending, Angst and Feels, F/M, Season 3 Finale
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-06
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2018-12-25 02:17:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12026007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yellow_wallpaper/pseuds/yellow_wallpaper
Summary: “I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope, for hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love, for love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith, but the faith and the love are all in the waiting. Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought: So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.” ― T.S. Eliot /Season 3 rewrite from Ep. 17. Dale Cooper and Audrey Horne fight for their closure. Dark.





	1. Revelations of the Past

Chapter 1

Revelations of the Past

 

  |  | 

  
  
   
“Sheriff, do you have the room key to the Great Northern Hotel, 315?”   
   
Frank grunted his confirmation, his confusion at what had just transpired still apparent on his face, yet he relinquished the old key into the detective's outstretched palm.   
   
“Very good. Frank, I need to ask, do you have an address I can reach Harry by?" The absence of his great friend had struck him deeply. He’d missed out on their good comradeship over the past twenty-five years. He did not know why Harry was no longer stationed at Twin Peaks, but he intended to seek the sheriff out as he had promised himself.   
   
The older Truman brother nodded, scribbling a few lines onto a piece of paper to hand to the detective. Dale pocketed it neatly and turned to the gathering of people in the room. Namely, to the small figure Andy was ushering towards him. The woman was slight and dressed in a pink robe, her arms out stretched before her as though desperately reaching out for something. Dale felt compelled to step forward so as her small hands rested on his arm. The small noises she had been emitting seemed to cease, as did the limbs of her body. Her features shifted and transformed before his eyes, until they began to form into someone startlingly familiar. A curtain of vibrant red hair framed a pair of piercing blue eyes, and Dale could only stare in shock at his old Bureau confident, sure that she had been murdered by his Doppelganger.   
   
"Diane?" He questioned, his voice betraying both disbelief and relief.   
   
She nodded, unshed tears sparkling in her eyes.   
   
"Dale Cooper." She said quietly. "Is it really you?" He caught the uncertainty in her eyes and kept his distance respectful, unsure how much she would remember.   
   
As though reading his mind, Diane's mouth quirked into a thin grimace. "I remember everything." She affirmed. "Listen... you saved me."   
   
"I did something unimaginable and horrific Diane." He fought to keep his breathing even, his voice shook as well as his hands as the full force of what had transpired crashed over him. "It wasn't me, yet it was." He blew air out through his nostrils. _In. Out. Keep breathing_ , "He was wearing my face when he did it." He said, his eyes traveling to somewhere off in the distance. How many lives had he ruined? How many more would be ruined by his own gain?   
   
Diane whimpered, a hand going to her throat. Dale's head jerked at the sound and his heart plummeted. "I am so sorry Diane, really I am." He finished quietly. Another time, they would be able to talk, but he must press forward now if anyone were to be saved, he realised.   
   
"WE WILL SEE A VERY DIFFERENT TOWN THIS TIME NEXT WEEK." Gordon exclaimed suddenly, causing several pairs of alarmed eyes to land on the chief detective.   
   
Albert started to voice his own opinion, "Chief, what the fuc-"   
   
"Albert, Gordon." Dale looked to the latter intently, and Gordon, sensing that this was a matter to be discussed off the books, backed out of the room with a sweep of his long coat. Dale smiled cheerily at the spectators to this cryptic conversation.   
   
"I hope I see you all again very soon. Every single one of you." He said sincerely, giving them all the once over. "Project Blue Rose is a go." He announced, following his chief out. 

 

* * *

  
   
The trio set off for the Great Northern in relative silence, the questions kept at bay until Albert couldn't help but voice his concerns from earlier.   
   
"Cooper, are you going to tell me what the bleedin' hell is going on here?" He inquired, his brows furrowed questioningly and his hands continuously smoothing out his suit jacket, one of his nervous habits.  
   
“A very simple phrase. The past dictates the future.” He watched the faces of his old team, Gordon and Albert, watching him carefully as though afraid he might disappear again. "I am in search of a place. When I reach that place, all will be revealed to me."   
   
Albert quirked a brow.

"This place... the same place where you found the giants and dwarves?" He asked, trying to keep the skepticism out of his voice. Despite what they had faced in the past, and being involved with project Blue Rose, Albert still had a difficult time wrapping his head around all things other-wordly. Or perhaps he liked not to believe in such things for the better of his own sanity.   
   
"Yep." Dale replied simply.   
   
"Now Cooper, I'm not often in touch with my sentimentality, least of all at your bullshit level, but you're making this sound like a goodbye." Albert sniffed, usually always astute and abrupt, Dale could see the emotional break in Albert's eyes.   
   
"ALBERT'S RIGHT, COOP. WE DIDN'T KNOW WHERE YOU WENT GALLIVANTING BEFORE - APPARENTLY LIVING A HIGH LIFE OF GAMBLING AND FAST CARS - BUT NOW YOU'RE GOING GALLIVANTING OFF AGAIN." Gordon commented, looking at Dale apprehensively, " WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO CONTACT YOU FOR YEARS."   
   
"I understand. I wasn't expecting to get trapped in a reality of hell for the past twenty-five years." Dale replied grimly, suppressing a shudder. "But lives can be saved. I can still make some good come of this." He implored, his own belief buoying the tightening fist of hopelessness.   
   
Gordon and Albert exchanged a look, then Gordon was digging though his coat pocket, Dale watched as he produced an ear piece identical to his own. "WHERE EVER YOU DO GO, TAKE THIS WITH YOU. LISTEN TO THE SOUND WAVE FREQUENCY. I'LL BE ABLE TO HEAR IT TOO, SO IF YOU'RE IN TROUBLE, SEND A FREQUENCY TO ME AND I WILL KNOW."   
   
Dale fastened the ear piece to his ear with pride, touched. "Thank you Gordon, I really appreciate everything you have done over the years." He looked to Albert, "What everyone as part of Blue Rose has done for me."   
   
Gordon sat up suddenly, "COOP! YOU HAVEN'T MET OUR TAMMY, A REAL BRIGHT ONE - GOLD STARS GALORE FOR THAT GAL!" He exclaimed joyfully. Albert coughed in the back seat and Dale caught on, grinning, "Boy am I looking forward to meeting her." 

 

* * *

  
   
They arrived at the Great Northern, flashing their badges to the concierge and proceeding to the floor with the room Dale had once occupied.   
   
“Now, listen, I'm going through this door.” He told them, eyeing them both carefully. “And I don’t want either of you to follow me, you understand?” He took in Gordon's deeply perturbed expression and Albert's slightly panicked eyes and placed his hands on both their shoulders, mustering up a smile for both of them. "I promise you, it will be like I've never gone away." He swallowed, suddenly too emotional to continue that train of thought. _This is not a goodbye_.  
   
Albert nodded slowly, knowing he wouldn’t be able to change the Agent’s now his decision was made. Gordon observed him quietly; he blinked once, twice. “YOU TAKE CARE NOW COOP.” He replied finally.   
   
Dale nodded, "See you on the other side."   
   
The sound of quick footsteps could be heard from the adjoining corridor, and the group separated as Benjamin Horne rounded the corner, apparently notified of their arrival, his ever pristine appearance haggard as though he'd just run several flights of stairs.   
   
Dale’s hand stilled over the room key, rubbing his thumb over the numbers on the key fob. "Hello, Mr. Horne." He said calmly. "I'm here to investigate one of your rooms."   
   
Ben strode up to the detective, effectively blocking Gordon and Albert from their conversation.   
   
“I know what you’re trying to do.” He growled, “Twenty-Five years you’ve been running away, and now you think you can come back to our town and start snooping around." He wagged his finger at the detective as though lecturing a school boy on his homework.   
   
"We can't all run away from our problems like you and Audrey."   
   
Dale tried to keep his expression neutral, but a faint crease appeared between his brows as his words hit their intended target, and the agent was all at once irked and wary of how much he should say at his own expense.    
   
“This is why I have to do this. Mr Horne I have to try –“   
   
“Don’t you think I’ve tried?” Ben asked him, but Dale could see there was no anger directed at him, only a sad lament. He seemed to calm then, his expression turning mournful. "Do you know what happened the day she went missing?"   
   
Dale's mouth went dry, and found himself nodding before he could stop himself.   
   
“She was working very hard on a project, Ghostwood it was at the time, and she had just finished for the day. It was getting late. I asked her to come inside, dinner was almost ready. But she refused." He paused, shaking his head, "You know what she did? she just smiled. Like her mind was far away from her own person. She just smiled that same Audrey smile.” Ben sighed, his hand going to his mouth, tracing the thin curve of his mouth in thought.   
   
"She kept walking away. I kept calling her but she kept walking away from me." Ben looked up to see the detective's reaction, his own eyes glassy.   
   
"And that's how I know."   
   
Dale's heart thumped a hard rhythm against his rib cage, his fingers slackening around the key.   
   
"Know what, Mr Horne?"   
   
"That Audrey is dead, Agent Cooper."  
  
---


	2. Electricity!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What ever this is, they’re not playing by any rules.” Dale mused, noticing Albert and Gordon’s uncomfortable and perturbed expressions.
> 
> \- Warning of minor firearm use in this chapter.

 

_‘She was only a little girl. She lived in a great big house... all alone. Where is her mother? Where is her father? Where are all the people who went to visit her? What is her unspeakable secret? Everyone who knows is dead.’_

_\- Quote from The Little Girl Who Lived Down the Lane._

Chapter 2. Electricity!

 

Dale was at a loss of what to say. His mouth went dry, and the dull ache behind his eyes caused him to blink rapidly. His vision blurred, and he felt an aching hollowness.

Since his return from the Lodge, Dale Cooper had not allowed himself to indulge in thoughts of Audrey Horne. If he only remembered the way she was; the coquettish flutter of her lashes that framed forget-me-not eyes and the sunny smile she would bestow upon him every time their paths crossed - then in his own selfish mind she was still in the town of Twin Peaks, dreaming of love and being in love herself. To think otherwise would give into some maddening thoughts he simply refused to consider.

Whilst he did not know the full extent of the life Audrey had lead for the past twenty-five years, he was adamant of one thing. Audrey was not dead. He had dreamed her. This fact alone, told the detective she was alive, existing somewhere or someplace, waiting for him. For how could he dream of her in his deepest hell if she also hadn’t been dreaming of him? Dale was certain they would reunite under some consequence of fate, and however foolishly, he believed they would survive this together.

Ben watched the agents’ reaction carefully, his expression largely inscrutable. He however seemed to take Dale’s distress as a good sign, perhaps seeking solace that the detective’s guilt was the reaction he had been wanting to draw from the detective.

“Why would she leave? Agent Cooper?” Ben pressed him, ”Why would she just leave everything behind? She had so much to live for.” He bemoaned, dragging a hand over his face.

This Dale had no answer for. He knew the relationship between Audrey had her father had always been rocky, and he never knew whether they had been able to mend this bond before he’d entered the Lodge. Instead, he decided to choose the words that he believed in, partly because they echoed what he wanted to say to everyone who had been affected by his own actions.

“I don’t believe Audrey ever meant to hurt you.” He answered carefully. “I think what Audrey was going through was so much for her that she did not wish to inflict it on those closest to her."

"Even her son?" Ben asked the agent, a strange glint in his eye.

Dale stumbled on his words, his mind stuttering. He wasn’t quite sure how to go about comprehending this new piece of information. ' _Of course, it has been twenty-five years, how could he be so n iiave to think she wouldn't have had children', _his rational mind berated. 

"Please. Let me - open the door I just need to check -" Dale attempted to say, not as calmly as he would have liked. He didn’t know why he suddenly had become so irked with Ben Horne’s words. It was as though he were dripping poison in his ear.

"But why are you concerning yourself with this Agent Cooper? I should think you have moved on by now. Audrey has. I think you should let it go." Ben continued, placing a hand on the detective’s arm.

Dale glanced down at the hand resting on his arm. “Mr. Horne, please release my arm.” He said quietly. “This is Bureau business.” This was technically not true, but the detective was grappling for some control over the situation.

He thought he saw either Albert or Gordon move behind him from their places at the door and the atmosphere in the room grew tense.

“No. I won’t let you past.” Ben replied, like some petulant child. His features were odd, almost cast in stone with an expression of cold indifference. There was a glint in Ben’s eyes that sent a chill right to the agent’s spine, and in his head Dale tried to estimate the seconds it would take to draw the gun from his inside pocket.

“I know you’re scared to finally know what happened to your daughter, Ben.” 

“Scared?” Ben mocked, his hand tightening round Dale’s wrist to point where a shooting pain went up the detective’s arm. The detective could see the range of emotions playing out before him like a picture book. But the eyes retained the same cold and empty stare.

“No.” Ben drawled, his voice sounding drawn out and sluggish. “Audrey is safe.” He smiled then, an uncharacteristic feral leer, “Don't you worry. She is playing a game with the Gods now, agent Cooper.”

Dale’s was a quick draw, reaching into his right breast pocket almost at the same time as Ben reached for his, but he was never able to pull the trigger before there were a series of loud shots, and he realised Ben had been shot multiple times in the chest.

The effect was instantaneous; instead of naturally crumpling to the floor, his body shattered and obliterated, leaving no trace there had been a person there at all. Dale whipped his head in the direction of Albert and Gordon from their position in the doorway.

“We had a tip off from one of those upper class hot shots that Benjamin Horne was supposed to be on a three day business trip. No one’s heard from him since.” Albert jerked his head sardonically. “Saved your sweet ass again, Coop.”

Dale let out a gust of air, lowering his own gun to his side and looking back at the space where Audrey’s father had been a moment earlier.

“Tulpa.” He affirmed. He was still a little bit bewildered at what he had witnessed. He remembered he seeing the cold glint in the Tulpa’s stare that was simply inhuman.

“Not the first one we’ve encountered either.” Albert grumbled, striding across so he was in front of the agent. “Same thing with Diane, acted completely batshit, but luckily, her soul was saved and she just needed a bit of coaxing to come round.” Albert sniffed. "This one seemed pretty convincing, although I never knew Benjamin Horne that well so that put me off track." He paused, eyeing the younger agent curiously. "What relation of his has something to do with you, Coop?" 

Dale swallowed, shifting slightly under their gaze. "His daughter Audrey was someone who promised I would protect." Was all he said.

“We need to put out a search party for Benjamin Horne, but it must be kept quiet.” Dale continued. “And so has this. The real Benjamin Horne is out there somewhere. We need to send out a small search party to find him.” Dale snapped his fingers, “We need the Bookhouse Boys.” He grinned, neatly penning the address on a piece of paper from his note book. “Gordon, I want you to give this to Henry Truman.” He said, handing his superior the piece of paper.

“BUCKHIDE OF A WHAT NOW?”

Dale smiled, some things he were thankful had never changed. “Thank you, Gordon.” Gordon gave him the thumbs up, which he returned in kind. 

“What ever this is, they’re not playing by any rules.” Dale mused, noticing Albert and Gordon’s uncomfortable and perturbed expressions, he explained. “They didn’t want me to go through this door.” He said, putting the key into the lock and turning it slowly until he heard a firm click.

“I don’t know what I’m going to find on the other side, but I stand by my words. I don’t want either of you to follow me.” His final words hung in the air between them as he pushed the door open and walked into the darkness.

* * *

 

Dale walked in what he hoped was a relatively straight line. The darkness surrounded him and enveloped him like a blanket, and he found he wasn’t afraid as much as he was cautious. From out of the shadows he could see another figure approaching, and Dale recognised him as MIKE. The shorter man seemed to appraise him for a moment.

“It was a test… they are testing you.” MIKE told him slowly.

“Through the darkness of future's past, the magician longs to see. One chants out between two worlds...Fire... walk with me." MIKE chanted, a strange ringing sound accompanying them as they walked. MIKE seemed to notice it too, he turned to the agent, wide-eyed and almost bridling with energy, he bellowed,

“ELECTRICITY!”

And Dale Cooper followed the spirit on through the darkness, from one world to the next.


End file.
